Man hit by bus in Reading, gets up, walks away...

[PurpleTurtle]

Extremely lucky to walk away from that. I met my wife in the Purple Turtle, had to tell her tonight that I was now the second luckiest bloke to go in there!

It'll be interesting to see why the bus was going so fast (mechanical error, driver illness) - I've lived in Reading for 20yrs, never seen a bus take that corner at anywhere near that speed.

Also incredibly lucky that there were no other pedestrians in the vicinity, the way that shop front flies along the street could easily have killed anyone walking on the pavement there.

[R1gtr]

PurpleTurtle said:

Extremely lucky to walk away from that. I met my wife in the Purple Turtle, had to tell her tonight that I was now the second luckiest bloke to go in there!

It must be a good pub if you named yourself after it?!

[PurpleTurtle]

R1gtr said:

PurpleTurtle said:

Extremely lucky to walk away from that. I met my wife in the Purple Turtle, had to tell her tonight that I was now the second luckiest bloke to go in there!

It must be a good pub if you named yourself after it?!

It is!!

[Jockman]

Surely the bus has cameras on board to explain what has happened?

[stropley]

Jockman said:

Surely the bus has cameras on board to explain what has happened?

Yes, it was mentioned on tonight's news that the bus co has given the footage to the police.

[Douglas Quaid]

dro said:

A rare specimen he is, so many nowadays would have played the compensation card straight away.

I'm against compensation culture but in this case I'd say the poor sod is due some. He was close to being crushed against the lamp post. Also came close to hitting his head on the building. Bloody close to all kinds of nastiness.

[xjay1337]

Ahbefive said:

Driver should lose his licence and his job for that muppetry.

He will almost certainly lose his job, unless there was some major sort of issue with the bus.

[Eric Mc]

PurpleTurtle said:

R1gtr said:

PurpleTurtle said:

Extremely lucky to walk away from that. I met my wife in the Purple Turtle, had to tell her tonight that I was now the second luckiest bloke to go in there!

It must be a good pub if you named yourself after it?!

It is!!

I KNEW I'd read the name somewhere before

[SGirl]

xjay1337 said:

He will almost certainly lose his job, unless there was some major sort of issue with the bus.

I think there must've been - or else the driver was ill, but that seems less likely because s/he managed to steer away after hitting the bloke. Nobody in their right mind would come round that corner that quickly. You wouldn't be travelling at that speed down that little one-way road before it.

[SilverSixer]

kev1974 said:

mac96 said:

ninja-lewis said:

The Guardian have a slightly longer version here showing the bus coming round the corner in the background. - looks far too fast to ever make that corner.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/27/i-...

Also appears to show bus driver running over to see if he is OK.

If it was the bus driver, he is not looking like a man who was having a 'medical episode', Which I suppose leaves absurdly dangerous driving, or a mechanical defect. I hope it was the latter, as otherwise he is for it.

There are two people in bus driver uniform that come over at the end, they can't both be the driver, therefore it could well be that there is a little bus driver rest room there or something, and so neither of them might be the actual crashed bus driver.

Literally a few yards from there is a large bus stop area where buses often pause for a few minutes, and there is a refreshment kiosk for bus/taxi drivers etc. I expect those two who attended the victim came from there if the driver was unable to get out of the bus due to illness. Just speculating, but it's quite plausible. Here's the area I'm talking about:

https://goo.gl/maps/SNaqTegbcY52

You can see the kiosk in the central reservation, and if you pan right you can see the purple front of the bar where the bloke got hit. Buses are often queuing here, waiting to start a run, often quite a few drivers/staff hanging around. They'd've seen it happen and could've been on the scene in seconds.

[Puggit]

The driver gets straight out and runs to the man who is sheltering in the doorway of the Purple Turtle (sorry to bust the myth that he goes in for a pint!). After checking he's 'ok' he then gets on the phone, presumably to the bus company.

Longer video here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/28/police-...

That S-bend has long been an accident waiting to happen. Gun St is effectively a bus-only lane, and the buses do like to hoon down there. The S-bend is actually an important pedestrian crossing route, but Reading being Reading, there is no protection for pedestrians - RBC ensure buses rule the road around here.

[PurpleTurtle]

SilverSixer said:

kev1974 said:

mac96 said:

ninja-lewis said:

The Guardian have a slightly longer version here showing the bus coming round the corner in the background. - looks far too fast to ever make that corner.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/27/i-...

Also appears to show bus driver running over to see if he is OK.

If it was the bus driver, he is not looking like a man who was having a 'medical episode', Which I suppose leaves absurdly dangerous driving, or a mechanical defect. I hope it was the latter, as otherwise he is for it.

There are two people in bus driver uniform that come over at the end, they can't both be the driver, therefore it could well be that there is a little bus driver rest room there or something, and so neither of them might be the actual crashed bus driver.

Literally a few yards from there is a large bus stop area where buses often pause for a few minutes, and there is a refreshment kiosk for bus/taxi drivers etc. I expect those two who attended the victim came from there if the driver was unable to get out of the bus due to illness. Just speculating, but it's quite plausible. Here's the area I'm talking about:

https://goo.gl/maps/SNaqTegbcY52

You can see the kiosk in the central reservation, and if you pan right you can see the purple front of the bar where the bloke got hit. Buses are often queuing here, waiting to start a run, often quite a few drivers/staff hanging around. They'd've seen it happen and could've been on the scene in seconds.

The only surprise about that Google Maps photo me old mucker is that one of the two blokes having a crafty ciggy outside The Horn isn't our loud Welsh friend!!

[Google [bot]]

I've just popped into the Turtle for nostalgic purposes - pavement still nicely scarred by this!

[majordad]

I hope the man is still ok and alive, he was blessed.

[KAgantua]

what happened to the driver

[PurpleTurtle]

No news as yet.

Given that Reading Buses are wholly owned by the autocratic local Labour council I suspect they will be doing everything they can to hush it up, whatever the cause.

[spaximus]

PurpleTurtle said:

No news as yet.

Given that Reading Buses are wholly owned by the autocratic local Labour council I suspect they will be doing everything they can to hush it up, whatever the cause.

It will be down to government cuts, everything else is in council land

[bigandclever]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-423...

A bus driver has admitted dangerous driving after his double-decker bus hit a pedestrian on a pavement in Reading.
Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, from St Johns Road in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates' Court earlier.
CCTV footage from 24 June, showing Simon Smith being knocked down in Gun Street before getting up and walking into a bar, went viral.
Mr Senghor will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court at a future date.

And a bit more blurb ...

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/reading-bus-driv...

A former Reading Buses driver revealed he put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake before crashing into a man in Reading town centre.
Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, of St Johns Road in Wallingford, was driving the number 17 bus through Gun Street on Saturday, June 24 when he felt a "surge".
Instead of braking, he put his foot on the accelerator.

Edited by bigandclever on Friday 15th December 11:03

[saaby93]

bigandclever said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-423...

A bus driver has admitted dangerous driving after his double-decker bus hit a pedestrian on a pavement in Reading.
Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, from St Johns Road in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates' Court earlier.
CCTV footage from 24 June, showing Simon Smith being knocked down in Gun Street before getting up and walking into a bar, went viral.
Mr Senghor will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court at a future date.

And a bit more blurb ...

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/reading-bus-driv...

A former Reading Buses driver revealed he put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake before crashing into a man in Reading town centre.
Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, of St Johns Road in Wallingford, was driving the number 17 bus through Gun Street on Saturday, June 24 when he felt a "surge".
Instead of braking, he put his foot on the accelerator.

Surley thats careless not dangerous?

[mac96]

saaby93 said:

bigandclever said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-423...

A bus driver has admitted dangerous driving after his double-decker bus hit a pedestrian on a pavement in Reading.
Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, from St Johns Road in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, pleaded guilty at Reading Magistrates' Court earlier.
CCTV footage from 24 June, showing Simon Smith being knocked down in Gun Street before getting up and walking into a bar, went viral.
Mr Senghor will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court at a future date.

And a bit more blurb ...

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/reading-bus-driv...

A former Reading Buses driver revealed he put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake before crashing into a man in Reading town centre.
Cheikh Daouda Senghor, 40, of St Johns Road in Wallingford, was driving the number 17 bus through Gun Street on Saturday, June 24 when he felt a "surge".
Instead of braking, he put his foot on the accelerator.

Surley thats careless not dangerous?

And if the model of bus was known to be 'prone to surges' that is a defective vehicle, irrespective of whether cause is poor maintenance or poor design? And they should be off the road until fixed or modified as appropriate?